The nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) controls translation initiation in cis by recruiting nucleolin to the encoding mRNA

Protein aggregates and abnormal proteins are toxic and associated with neurodegenerative diseases. There are several mechanisms to help cells get rid of aggregates but little is known on how cells prevent aggregate-prone proteins from being synthesised. The EBNA1 of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) evades the immune system by suppressing its own mRNA translation initiation in order to minimize the production of antigenic peptides for the major histocompatibility (MHC) class I pathway. Here we show that the emerging peptide of the disordered glycine–alanine repeat (GAr) within EBNA1 dislodges the nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) from the ribosome. This results in the recruitment of nucleolin to the GAr-encoding mRNA and suppression of mRNA translation initiation in cis. Suppressing NAC alpha (NACA) expression prevents nucleolin from binding to the GAr mRNA and overcomes GAr-mediated translation inhibition. Taken together, these observations suggest that EBNA1 exploits a nascent protein quality control pathway to regulate its own rate of synthesis that is based on sensing the nascent GAr peptide by NAC followed by the recruitment of nucleolin to the GAr-encoding RNA sequence.     

PRIESSTESS: interpretable,high-performing models of the sequence and structure preferences of RNA-binding proteins

Modelling both primary sequence and secondary structure preferences for RNA binding proteins (RBPs) remains an ongoing challenge. Current models use varied RNA structure representations and can be difficult to interpret and evaluate. To address these issues, we present a universal RNA motif-finding/scanning strategy, termed PRIESSTESS (Predictive RBP-RNA InterpretablE Sequence-Structure moTif regrESSion), that can be applied to diverse RNA binding datasets. PRIESSTESS identifies dozens of enriched RNA sequence and/or structure motifs that are subsequently reduced to a set of core motifs by logistic regression with LASSO regularization. Importantly, these core motifs are easily visualized and interpreted, and provide a measure of RBP secondary structure specificity. We used PRIESSTESS to interrogate new HTR-SELEX data for 23 RBPs with diverse RNA binding modes and captured known primary sequence and secondary structure preferences for each. Moreover, when applying PRIESSTESS to 144 RBPs across 202 RNA binding datasets, 75% showed an RNA secondary structure preference but only 10% had a preference besides unpaired bases, suggesting that most RBPs simply recognize the accessibility of primary sequences.     

人乳寡糖2’-FL和3-FL的生物制备研究进展

人乳寡糖(Human milk oligosaccharides,HMO)是母乳中重要的免疫活性成分,对婴幼儿健康起到显著促进作用。2’-岩藻糖基乳糖(2’-FL)是HMO的主要组分,极具应用价值,3-岩藻糖基乳糖(3-FL)与2’-FL的合成途径相似,两者的研究具有相互借鉴意义,近年来针对它们的研究取得了较多进展。以微生物细胞工厂为核心理念的新型生物合成途径有望将2’-FL和3-FL产业化,未来将对乳制品行业产生重要的影响。文中综述了生物技术制备2’-FL和3-FL的最新研究进展,并对未来发展趋势进行了展望。     

植物原生质体在分子细胞生物学研究中的应用

植物原生质体是去除了细胞壁的裸露细胞,其具有细胞全能性,现广泛应用于植物分子细胞生物学的研究中,可以大大缩减实验周期,并有助于得到体内实验的实时检测数据。该文除了介绍植物原生质体的提取和纯化方法外,还对国内外利用各种植物的原生质体进行细胞瞬时转化、亚细胞定位、细胞融合和大分子复合物相互作用等试验进行了总结和讨论。植物原生质体还可用于基因表达模式的实时检测,并作为生物反应器的受体细胞进行代谢物的体外生产。此外,还对当前该技术所面临的瓶颈进行了分析,为植物原生质体在分子细胞生物学领域的应用提供帮助,为技术的优化和推广提供参考。     

Galectin-3 critically mediates the hepatoprotection conferred by M2-like macrophages in ACLF by inhibiting pyroptosis but not necroptosis signalling

We previously documented that M2-like macrophages exert a hepatoprotective effect in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) by inhibiting necroptosis signalling. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism behind this hepatoprotection still needs to be further dissected. Galectin-3 (GAL3) has been reported to be critically involved in the pathogenesis of multiple liver diseases, whereas the potential role of GAL3 in ACLF remains to be explored. Herein, we hypothesised that GAL3 plays a pivotal role in the hepatoprotection conferred by M2-like macrophages in ACLF by inhibiting necroptosis. To test this hypothesis, we first assessed the expression of GAL3 in control and fibrotic mice with or without acute insult. Second, loss- and gain-of-function experiments of GAL3 were performed. Third, the correlation between GAL3 and M2-like macrophage activation was analysed, and the potential role of GAL3 in M2-like macrophage-conferred hepatoprotection was confirmed. Finally, the molecular mechanism underlying GAL3-mediated hepatoprotection was dissected. GAL3 was found to be obviously upregulated in fibrotic mice with or without acute insult but not in acutely injured mice. Depletion of GAL3 aggravated hepatic damage in fibrotic mice upon insult. Conversely, adoptive transfer of GAL3 provided normal mice enhanced resistance against acute insult. The expression of GAL3 is closely correlated with M2-like macrophage activation. Through adoptive transfer and depletion experiments, M2-like macrophages were verified to act as a major source of GAL3. Importantly, GAL3 was confirmed to hold a pivotal place in the hepatoprotection conferred by M2-like macrophages through loss- and gain-of-function experiments. Unexpectedly, the depletion and adoptive transfer of GAL3 resulted in significant differences in the expression levels of pyroptosis but not necroptosis signalling molecules. Taken together, GAL3 plays a pivotal role in the hepatoprotection conferred by M2-like macrophages in ACLF by inhibiting pyroptosis but not necroptosis signalling. Our findings provide novel insights into the pathogenesis and therapy of ACLF.Subject terms: Inflammasome, Necroptosis